Brooklyn
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For Roger Tory Peterson
“A golden bird of wooded swamps.” — RTP on the Prothonatary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), photographed in the Ravine yesterday in Prospect Park.Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of the first publication of Roger Tory Peterson’s A Field Guide to the Birds. Now, I don’t doubt that humans have been watching birds since we’ve been humans, and…
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Basking Turtles
A pile-up of turtles. But not all of these are Red-eared Sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans), which dominate the waters in Prospect Park. If you look closely, you’ll notice one of the shells is rather smoother than the others, and, although out of focus, its red highlights on the underside sing out “Painted Turtle” (Chrysemys picta).Here’s…
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Heron v. Fish
A Green Heron (Butorides virescens) was wrestling with a big fish it had caught today at the Upper Pool. I’ve seen other herons/egrets and cormorants working on big fish before. You hardly imagine they will be able to swallow their prey, but they almost always do. This must be enough food for the day.I saw…
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Nesting
I’m sure you can recognize these common nesting birds in Brooklyn right now. Meanwhile, our under-bridge pigeon nest is proceeding apace:
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Snow Goose
A Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) was on Prospect Lake today. They are not uncommon in Jamaica Bay during the winter months, but don’t visit interior Brooklyn very often. Among the most abundant waterfowl on the continent, Snow Geese are often seen in huge numbers on fallow fields and wetlands.
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Brooklyn Update
When my plane descended into LaGuardia last Monday, there were a lot of gray/brown still-wintering trees in evidence. I’d just come from southern-most Texas, where spring was fully in motion, but things are stirring here, too.Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) amid the weeping cherries, which were throbbing with honeybees, and an occasional bumble.The nacreous heart of…
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He Xie
Ai Weiwei’s He Xie of 2010. At the Brooklyn Museum’s Ai Weiwei: According to What? exhibit, which just opened and runs through August 10th. The phrase “he xie” means river crabs — these are made of porcelain — and is also slang for the Chinese state’s censorship of the internet, because it sounds like the…
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Zygodactylism
That tap-tap-tapping coming from the Phragmites is usually a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). Note those long toenail claws. Woodpeckers have zygodactyl toes, two pointing forward, two back. Most birds, the Passerines, or song birds, have three forward, one back.
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Gowanus Dragon
The anti-freeze color of the water is just about right here.
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New Nest
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) nesting under the bridge. The bird was still working on the nest, using her body to shape these freshly collected twigs. The red-eyes are natural, not from a flash.
Backyard and Beyond 